Charlie Munger on Is The Golden Era of Investing OVER? | CNBC's Squawk Box 2019【C:C.M 311】
[Transcript]
BECKY QUICK: You spent a lot of time today talking about how people who think that they can beat the market averages are probably fooling themselves, how much tougher it’s gotten to be a value investor, or even just an investor in general. And I was just wondering, do you think the golden era of investing is over?
CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, not forever.
BECKY QUICK: Why?
CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, because I think, it isn’t like the last recession or the last big opportunity that the world is ever going to get is past. There’ll be opportunities in the future. There are times where they’re easier, and there are times when it — which are harder.
BECKY QUICK: So is right now tougher just because valuation —
CHARLIE MUNGER: Now is tougher.
BECKY QUICK: — just because valuations have come up so much?
CHARLIE MUNGER: Of course. A) the valuations have come up. And B) the competition sorting through those opportunities is more intelligent and more aggressive and more numerous. Of course it’s harder. The net result is people are going to get worse results.
BECKY QUICK: Do you think that the number of people who are smarter, who have better information than they used to, that that will go down, or it will just be a question of valuations coming down at some point?
CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, I think valuations will come — will go up and down because they always have. And I think we’ll have smart people in this game forever. Lots of them. The opportunities that we all remember came from a demoralized period when about 90% of the natural stock buyers got very discouraged with stocks. That’s what created the opportunity for these fabulous records that my generation had. And that was a rare opportunity that came to a rare group of people of whom I was one. And Warren was another. And people who start now have a much less — they have lower opportunity.
[YAPSS Takeaway]
There will be opportunities in the future but it will be tougher to find and it won't be the same as the past.